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Does the Pill cause cancer?

By Tracee Cornforth, About.com

Created: December 5, 2003

About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by the Medical Review Board

One of the biggest questions has been whether the pill increases the risk of breast cancer in past and current pill users.

An international study published in the September 1996 Journal Contraception concluded that women's risk of breast cancer 10 years after going off birth control pills was no higher than that of women who had never used the pill. During pill use and for the first 10 years after stopping the pill, women's risk of breast cancer was only slightly higher in pill users than non-pill users.

Contraceptives Resource Center

Oral Contraceptives and Cancer Risk

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Adapted from the United States Office on Women's Health in the Department of Health and Human Services.

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